C. albicans of the species Candida is the most common fungal pathogen of humans and one of the top five most common microorganisms isolated from blood cultures. Normally, C. albicans is a benign commensal yeast microbe colonizing mucosal surfaces in the mouth and vagina. Under opportune conditions however, C. albicans may become a virulent pathogen able to cause a variety of infections. Depending upon underlying host health and condition, C. albicans may cause infections ranging from vulvovaginal candidiasis to life-threatening disseminated candidiasis that is able to infect virtually every organ of the host.
Virulence of C. albicans is correlated with a change in morphology of the cell from a spherical form to a filamentous hyphal form. In fact, the morphogenic conversion between yeast and hyphal growth forms appears to be critical in the pathogenesis of invasive candidiasis. Virulence and morphogenic conversion are also associated with a change in the cell's transcriptional profile. For example, among the proteins specifically known to have upregulated expression upon morphogenic conversion are members of the secreted aspartyl protease family.
Among the problems associated with infection caused by Candida species such as C. albicans is a lack of an accurate diagnostic procedure to recognize the opportunistic form of the cell early on in the disease process. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that there is a broad generality of symptoms for many different infections. For example, among the three most common causes of vaginal infection (vulvovaginal candidiasis, bacterial vaginosis, and trichomoneasis) symptoms may be fairly generic in nature. In addition, concurrent infections may be responsible for symptoms, which may further complicate an accurate diagnosis. In the case of infection due to C. albicans, self-treatment is often possible, but this requires an accurate diagnosis.
What is needed in the art are accurate methods and devices for recognizing the opportunistic form of pathogens such as C. albicans. For instance, a device that could provide a self-diagnosis route for opportunistic C. albicans could be of great benefit to consumers.